Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome this amendment. I agree with the Minister with regard to every effort being made to ensure that money lawfully due to the Exchequer, following the imposition of fines after a court hearing and due process, is collected and that the law is seen to take its course. However, I am sure there are administrative consequences, in terms of an extra burden on the Courts Service. The Minister has not given specific details as to how this will work in practice. Will it work in a similar way to Revenue, and will we see publication on specified dates such as 30 June and 30 December? Have such arrangements been set in place with the Courts Service?

I refer to the point made earlier by the Minister with regard to the reluctance of his Department to proceed by way of attachment of earnings. This is something Fine Gael proposed previously, not only in this legislation. If we had a provision for attaching a court order to a person's wages or, if unwaged, to social welfare payment or entitlement, we would not need such publication, because payment would be made automatically. I welcome the Minister's statement that we will have a review in the future where the matter of attachment orders will be looked at in some detail. I assume the Minister does not have a difficulty in principle with such orders since he has said the issue will be reviewed. If the courts had such a provision available, it might only be invoked in circumstances where the sitting judge was happy that it was appropriate in the circumstances. Then we would not need the publication of a list of names of persons who failed to pay fines on time.

However, pending such a review, I am happy to accept what the Minister has said. Perhaps he is in a position at this stage to elaborate on the mechanics of such an arrangement. Will it be twice yearly? Will it be published in Iris Oifigiúil or will it be available to the newspapers by press release or will it be in the form of an advertisement in the national newspapers? Will it be published locally in the District Court area which imposed the fine?

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